Anna makes stuffed animals inher spare time. When friends andcolleagues clamor tobuy them asgifts fortheir children, Anna decides totry selling them online.
Anna goes toafriend ofhers who isaprogrammer, andbegins tolearn alot ofnew terms: web hosting, domain, server, SEO, andmore. Alittle online research reveals how long itwill take andhow expensive itwill betodevelop aneffective online store. Her initial enthusiasm begins todwindle. After awhile, Anna decides that developing anonline store isout ofher reach, andgives upontheidea.
This scenario issad, andall too common. It’s familiar tomany who dream ofcreating anonline store but have neither thetime nor thebudget toget itdone.
The good news isthat you donot need tocreate awebsite from scratch tosell ontheInternet. Instead, you can make astore onthehuge, existing websites that you’re already connected to. Once, theaccepted steps fordigital business started with thebranded website. Then you connected tosocial andother websites from there.
Times have changed. The website isnot necessarily central anymore. Instead, businesses must gowhere thecustomers are: social media andbusinesses ahead ofthem ingrowth. Today, starting onsocial orlarger websites andadding website later inyour business evolution makes sense.
Inthis article, we’ll show you three ways Ecwid
Sell onSocial Networks
According toSprout Social survey, 89percent ofconsumers buy products from brands they follow onsocial networks. Shop owners are using social networks totalk about products, communicate with existing customers, andattract new customers. Ifyou donot have awebsite yet, you can open astore onFacebook, Instagram, andother social media.
Facebook forE-commerce
With 2.60billion monthly active users (MAU) andalmost 1.82billion daily active users (DAU) Facebook isthemost popular social network onEarth. Even ifyou run abrick-and-mortar store, having aFacebook business page isessential. Facebook isagreat way toconnect with customers, showcase your products, build relationships, andgrow overall sales.
With new Facebook Shops, you can sell online without awebsite!
Facebook Shop (aka Facebook store) isaspecial tab onabusiness page that allows businesses toupload their products toFacebook andsell directly totheir customers through Facebook. When potential customers come toyour page, they browse through your products. Ifthey see something they like, they can make apurchase. Facebook Shop supports collections andcompare atprice feature toorganize your inventory andhelp customers toexplore your best offers.
Instagram forE-commerce
Instagram also provides asolution where shoppers can buy products without ever leaving Instagram— Shoppable Posts. Visitors click ontheprice tag placed onaproduct which leads them toadescription page. From there they click tobuy, using whatever payment gateway merchants have established. Instagram stores
After you publish 9shoppable posts, your business page populates with aShop tab, tohelp organize andpromote posts with atagged buyable item. This means more potential exposure foryou!
Selling onsocial media has many benefits:
- Tapping into alarge andengaged audience ofsocial media users
- Anopportunity toreach more people organically (=for free)
- Building lasting relationships with customers through content.
With Ecwid, getting started with selling onsocial media fast takes just afew clicks. Log into your Control Panel →Sales Channels andchoose where tosell your products (Facebook orInstagram accordingly; however, you’ll besurprised todiscover many more ways tosell there!) andconnect these sales channels.
Ifyou would like toexplore selling onsocial using a
- Selling onFacebook with Ecwid
- Selling onInstagram
Use aFree Ecwid E-commerce Website
Ecwid users are not limited toselling only onsocial networks. Ifyou are not yet ready tobuild your own website, use Ecwid
This isaprofessional website with anintegrated Ecwid Ecommerce store. Create your products, connect your payment andshipping methods andbrand your Ecwid website. Upload acover image, logo, add business info, contact details, andlinks tosocial media. Set upyour own domain name (available inpaid Ecwid plans) oruse afree domain type mysuperstore.ecwid.com. That’s it, wetake care oftherest.
The
Launching your business ontheEcwid website, you’ll get these benefits:
- Fast implementation: launch your website andbeready tosell inunder anhour.
- Nodeveloper needed: use our comfortable editor tochange andpreview your site’s content
- The Ecwid website isfree.
Connect andedit your Ecwid
Sell onAmazon
Amazon now accounts forabout 47% ofretail
Selling onthis marketplace has some other advantages besides its size:
- Ifyou’re reading this article, most likely you’re just starting out with your business. Inthat case, anaffiliation with Amazon works because customers are more likely totrust anew business onAmazon than some unknown online store.
- When you sell onamarketplace, you only have toworry about selling. The audience isthere, thepromotional tools are there, andwith services like FBA (Fulfillment byAmazon), you can even avoid messing around with your parcels and, instead, let Amazon dothefulfillment foryou.
- Besides theinventory itself, thecost tosell onAmazon iscomparatively low: remember, you don’t have tobuild awebsite.
One ofAmazon’s massive fulfillment centers
Though Amazon has its own downsides such ashigh competition, commission fees, limitations, andlack ofcontrol, optimizing your Amazon listing iseasier than optimizing your website forsearch engines. Webroke that process down inone oftheepisodes oftheEcwid E-commerce Show.
Ifyou sign upforEcwid, it’s easy toimport your products toAmazon (and other marketplaces, too!) using one ofthefollowing apps: M2E Multichannel Connect, Channable, orKoongo.
Creating anonline shop without awebsite ismuch easier than itseems. There’s noneed towait foralucky day when you get enough money, time, orskills tobuild an
Implement your ideas fast (before competitors jump onit), andgrow your web presence asyour business grows. And please, share this article with those who are still saving uptocreate their own website tostart selling online.
Create anecommerce online store with Ecwid
Learn more
- How toCreate anOnline Store Without aWebsite
- How toStart anOnline Store Without aBudget
- How toStart anOnline Store Without Inventory
- How ToCreate AnOnline Store andBeSuccessful
- Where toFind Ideas For anOnline Store
- How Much Money DoYou Need toOpen anOnline Store?
- Understanding Online Store KPIs
- Essential Business KPIs forOnline Stores
- How ToWrite ABusiness Plan
- Opening Day Checklist: What ToDoBefore Launching Your Ecommerce Store
- How toMake AnOnline Shop: ASimple 6-Step Guide
